FWD: A Child of God

[Guest guest]

It is worth reading.

A Child of God, by D. Odum

No one looked on you with pity or had compassion ... Rather, you

were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born

you were despised. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in

your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you,

"Live!" (Ezekiel 16:5-6)

You might know his name. It's more likely that you know his nickname.

Merrick was a 19th-century oddity, a freak-show headliner who was

made famous by a book and a movie about his life. Merrick was horribly

deformed from birth, treated cruelly as a freak by those few who didn't

turn away from him in disgust and fear. "The Elephant Man," they called

him.

In one of the film's most wrenching scenes, Merrick is cornered in a

train station restroom by a mob, surrounded by pointing, gaping,

laughing people who shout insults and obscenities. Exhausted, shamed,

he sinks to the dirty floor. "I am not an animal," he insists. "I am a

human being." True, yes. But sadly, treated more like an animal in his

lifetime.

The exception to that rule is Doctor Frederick Treves. Treves, who is

initially interested in him as a medical case, helps to uncover and

grows to love the sensitive, compassionate, kind, intelligent,

articulate human being under the animal exterior. Through Treves,

Merrick gets to live the last part of his life in relative comfort

among London's wealthy elite. At one point, the beautiful actress, Mrs.

Kendall, visits Merrick. They exchange some lines from "Romeo and

t," she reading t and Merrick reading Romeo. As the lines

conclude, Mrs. Kendall smiles gently and maybe a little sadly. "Oh, Mr.

Merrick," she whispers breathlessly. "You're not an Elephant Man at

all!" "Oh, no?" he responds, afraid to agree, afraid not to. "You're

Romeo!" she says, sincerely and sweetly. Then she leans close and

kisses his ugly cheek.

Shortly before his untimely death, Merrick has an opportunity to thank

his friend Dr. Treves. "Do not worry about me, my friend. I am happy

every hour of the day. My life is full because I know I am loved. I

have gained myself." Then he smiles, as much as he can smile. "I could

not have said that if it were not for you." "My life is full because I

know I am loved. I have gained myself." Amazing words, coming from the

grotesque mouth of a man who was treated like a freak, like an animal,

most of his short life. Amazing words, and they give us a glimpse of

the power of the gospel.

So very, very many of the people you will talk to today, work with, sit

next to, and brush past could not honestly say what Merrick said

to his friend. So very many -- maybe even you -- do not know what it

means to be loved. You've been admired for your success, or wanted for

your looks, or liked because of your personality, or valued for your

talent, but you've never been loved. You've never let anyone see your

flaws, your sin, your hidden secrets because you've never known anyone

who would love you in spite of them. You've never had anyone lean in

close to your ugliness and plant a kiss on your cheek.

We are all Elephant Men and Women, friends. We hide it, to varying

degrees. Interestingly, the people we're least comfortable around are

those who hide their ugliness badly, or not at all. But, we are all

ugly and we all fear from time to time the mocking, pointing, taunting

mobs of other freaks. We all fear that they just might be right, that

there's something fundamentally wrong with us that makes us less than

human.

And that, fellow freaks, is where the gospel speaks.

Jesus, amazingly, came in all his beauty to our world. He was not put

off by our ugliness or fooled by our attempts to cover it up. He came

and gave his life, his blood, his body for us. He came to make us

believe that we aren't twisted, broken wretches. He came to make us

believe that there is beauty and value inside us, that the image of God

in us is not lost under our deformities. He came to give us full life,

a kiss of God's grace on our ugly cheeks.

That's the way the gospel transforms us. Through the love of God given

to us through the crucified Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, we

rise above our sin, our pettiness, our ugliness. We become who we were

meant to be. We gain ourselves. We are not defined by our past

ugliness. We are not animals. We are human beings; created in God's

image and loved deeply by him.

Maybe you didn't know that. Or maybe you just need to believe it.

Listen to another freak who discovered himself in God's love: Very

rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man

someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love

for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans

5:7-8)

I know. It's hard to believe. We're so familiar with the world's

watered-down brand of love that we have trouble accepting God's brand.

We have trouble believing that anyone could love us through our

ugliness. But if you can believe it, if you can accept God's love the

way Merrick accepted Mrs. Kendall's kiss and Dr. Treves'

friendship, you will discover the same thing that the "Elephant Man"

discovered -- yourself. You are not a sideshow freak. You are not too

broken to be loved. You are not an accident. You are not an animal. You

are a human being.

I have seen this movie of an amazing man , though was beaten most of his life. still found happiness.

When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;

when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage.

So long as mists envelop you, be still;

be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists

-- as it surely will.

Then act with courage.